Do the champions make short work of Detroit?

New champion hosts the champion of the future? At least if Red Wings fans have their way, the franchise is well on its way with general manager Steve Yzerman. Even if, realistically speaking, the road is still long and, above all, rocky.

The Wings have missed the playoffs once again and there are still a few missing pieces, especially offensively. However, Yzerman has already shown how it works in Tampa Bay, where he was the one who brought the most important players of the two-time champions to Florida.

These Lightning are now naturally considered the clear favourites on Tuesday as well, though the question is how important they take this game against Detroit when the Maple Leafs come to Tampa two days later. This could disrupt the focus a bit.

Since the last few games have been rather low-scoring, we can imagine the same for the upcoming game. For Tampa vs. Detroit, our prediction is therefore a win for the favourite, in which there should be no goal fireworks.

Tampa Bay Lightning – Statistics & current form

The Tampa Bay Lightning really have to fight for home-ice advantage in the first playoff round this year. Currently, they would miss this very narrowly, as they are still four points behind the New York Rangers.

In this respect, there is still something at stake for them, even if play-off qualification has been certain for some time. They have also overcome their short period of weakness at the beginning of April, when they lost four games in a row, and now come into this duel with three wins in a row.

Favourite status more than clear

We don’t have to say too many words about the conditions in this matchup – but maybe some statistics. The Bolts are clearly ahead of the Red Wings in terms of goals scored (3.31 to 2.78) and goals conceded (2.76 to 3.80).

They are also ahead in the power play (21.1% to 16.9%), in penalty killing (81.5% to 74.5%) and in face-offs (50.3% to 49.8%). So they should win this duel even with a slightly lower effort.

How focused is their defence?

But that’s where the biggest question mark comes into play. Against such an inferior opponent, efficiency suffers from time to time, which can be seen with some teams in the NHL. The Bolts have also had one or two weaker games against underdogs recently.

Thus, we would avoid a too high handicap and favour a bet on Tampa + Under 7.5 goals for Lightning vs. Red Wings. It is unlikely that the Wings will score more than two goals and over five Bolts goals are not necessarily to be expected either.

Key Players:
G: Andrei Vasilevskiy
D: Victor Hedman
D: Jan Rutta
LW: Ondrej Palat
C: Brayden Point
RW: Nikita Kucherov

Detroit Red Wings – Statistics & current form

The Red Wings are currently experimenting almost every game in order to already prepare for the upcoming season. At the moment their focus seems to be a bit more on the defence, which results in results of 1:3, 3:0 or 1:4.

Thus, even riskier bets on a shutout would currently be a bettable option in Detroit games. With small stakes, larger profits can be achieved here. This is also supported by the last duels between these two teams, where in four of the last five games few goals were scored (with a shutout).

Yzerman team with focus on the future

As mentioned above, NHL icon Steve Yzerman is currently in charge of the franchise and trying to mould it into a championship team. The Wings have a lot of young players in the squad, but they still need a little more fine-tuning and experience.

Of course, the performance this season suffers from that. While at the beginning of the season it was mainly their defence that continuously failed, the Wings are not exactly efficient offensively at the moment. Five goals scored in the last four games are not exactly a lot.

So we don’t expect many Wings goals on Tuesday, which is also important for our betting options. So for Bolts vs. Wings, the odds on a high Tampa win are significantly weaker to bet on than a combo bet Tampa + Under 7.5.

Key Players:
G: Alex Nedeljkovic
D: Nick Leddy
D: Moritz Seider
LW: Filip Zadina
C: Dylan Larkin
RW: Lucas Raymond

Tampa Bay Lightning – Detroit Red Wings Head-to-head comparison / H2H record

The two teams have played each other three times this season, each time with the better end for Tampa Bay. However, two of those three duels went to overtime, so we’d be cautious with the handicap for Tuesday as well.

Of course, handicaps of -1.5 or even -2.5 are still bettable, though Tampa has struggled recently against the Canadiens, Stars and Ducks. However, both teams have scored more than seven total goals only once in their last six games.

Thus, a bet on under 7.5 goals is an appealing option for Tampa against Detroit, best combined with the expected Bolts win. Pure under-point bets on under 6.5 goals are also still worth considering.

Tampa Bay Lightning – Detroit Red Wings Tip

Tampa should win this game, there is little doubt about that. However, the question is whether they will be efficient and also play their defence with 100% focus. If only one of these points is not true, then it could be closer than expected.

Therefore, a bet on Tampa + Under 7.5 goals is our favourite betting recommendation for Lightning vs. Red Wings. This goal total has only been exceeded once in the last seven meetings in this matchup.

Alternatively, however, there are handicap bets on Tampa in play. However, we have to go up to a handicap of -2.5 for an acceptable value, which always leaves a small residual risk open.